Hat brim forming block



feb. 27. 1945. W, W W'INSEN 2,370,510

HAT BRIM FORMING BLQGK Filed Aug, 22, 1942 Patented Feb. 27, 1945 s PATENT OFFICE HAT BRIM FORMING BLOCK Walter Wolf Winsen, Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa Original application November 14, 1941, Serial No. 419,091. Divided and this application August 22, 1942, Serial No. 4

55,697. In the Union of South Africa August 23, 1941 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of hats, more particularly to forming blocks used for the production of the brims' of hats from flat material such as woven straw, lthis application being a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 419,091, filed November 14, 1941. v

Various ways have been proposed for producing hat brims of this type. One proposal provided a block or form on which the damped material was stretched and fastened so that on drying it was shaped -as desired. Preferably there were two thicknesses ofthe material in the brim and to reinforce it there was formed at the edge an inwardly directed fold so as to make at this point four thicknesses of material. At the same time an upright portion of the same material around the centre opening in the brim was provided as a means of attaching the crown of the hat.

This invention is for an improved forming block for producing a hat brim of this type. lThe finished brim has a single smooth reinforced edge. The special block provides for theentire brim to be formed in one operation lvand from one piece of material. The nished article has an enhanced artistic elect in that the weave of the material, such as straw, is so set during the rforming operation that the straws become curved giving, what is known in the art, an exotic eiect, and with the double thickness of straw a moire is formed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. I is a side elevation of section.

Fig. II is a section of the hat brim as formed on the block shown in FigjI.

Fig. III is a similar view showing how the material is pressed to form the nished brim.

vFigs. IV and V show modifications.

Figs. VI and VII show details in the construction of the blocks.

Fig. VIII shows the material ready for the block.

Fig. IX shows a finished brim.

the block partly in be pulled over the outside circumferential edge of the forming block I3 and usually wide enough to form, the width of the brim twice over, one or more reinforcing folds, and also a turned up ring I4 for attaching the crown of the hat.

The block or form I3 may be made of any suitable material such as wood, plastics, or metal, for instance, aluminium, or a combination of such materials.

Thus in starting to form the brim, the cylinder I2 is turned inside out, that is with the iinished or right side of the material on the inside of the cylinder. It may be damped to soften it and it is then passed over the block I3 so that the edge I5 is approximately half way -down the height of the cylinder I2. A thin cord I'E is passed round the block I3 below the edge I5. This cord I5 `is tightened either by expanding the space between the two halves I'I-II of the block Fig. X is a sectional view of a modified form v of block and Figs. XI, )UI and XIII are sections of modied forms of brims. l

In the drawing I0 is the material which is usually a strip cut diagonally or on a bias from a flat woven sheet with its short edges II--II stitched together s0 that it becomes a cylinder I2 of the required size. In some cases the cylin,

der of material may be made without a joint, for instance on a knitting machine, in the well known manner. Said cylinder is made large enough to I3, as in Fig. VI, or bypassing a loop I8 of the cord I6 through the material I0 (preferably at the seam II) and through a small hole I9 in the side of the block and straining the cord by, a spring, lever, or other tensioning device 20.

The upper portion of the cylinder I2 of material I0 is now brought down over surface 2I and its edge I4 hunched up, whilst leaving the surface of the material on surface 2I smooth and secured by a cord 22 round the projection 23, see Fig. I, or down over edge 24, that is down inside the centre 25 of the block I3 and secured by pins or spring clips 26 or by other convenient means, see Fig. X. The, lower portion of the cylinder lf2 is now turned over the top portion of the material already in position on surface 2| of block I3 so as to make a fold over cord IAB and over the edge I5, that is the lower edge of cylinder I2, is brought over to meet the top edge I4 secured by cord 22 or by means of a number of spring clips 2B to form a double circle I4 of the material I0 upstanding from the surface of the double brim.

The material I0 is set by drying it in-position on block I3. It is then removed by releasing the cord I6. Such release is effected by decreasing the circumference of the block I3 as shown in Fig. VI. For instance by screwing the nut 21 onto the screw 28 in the well known manner so that the two halves II, I'I, of block I3 are brought together; or, in the alternative construction shown in Fig. VII, the cord I'B lmay be released by releasing the loop I8 from the tensioning deviceZ. Cord I5 is taken out from between the v double thickness of material' I0 as shown in secis fitted, depending whether the upper edges I4.

of the material I are `fastened with ya cord 22 during formation of the lorim on the block I3 or turned down` over 24 xand fastened in 2K5 as vshown in Fig. X.

Fig. V shows the form of brim .known prior to this invention. duced by a cord I6 fastened into a groove and exposed on the outside of the block so that it could be cut to remove it. The block in such a case Was double ended so that each half 0f the cylinder I2 wasformed on the top and bottom part of the block respectively. Wheny pressed up the edges 29, 30 formed 'the reinforced edge for the brim butsuch edge when finishedvshowed a double line and it was diicult to make the two edges 29, 30 perfectly coincide.

The edges 29, 30 were pro- Thus the edge j above described.v It will be evident that vbecause Was often unsightly. In' contrast the edge 3|,

Fig. III, according 'to this invention, exposes only a single edge of material although the reinforcing of the edge of the brim is the same, namely four layers of material III.

Should only one layer of material I 0 bel required for'the brim, according to this invention, the cylinder I2 of material is narrower and its upper edge is brought below the edge I5 of-the block but just far enough up for it to ybe fastened by cord I6 as above described. That is the upper half of the cylinder I2 is absent and only su'licient material is retained above the fold for cord I5 to hold the same. The lower portion of the cylinder I2 is then turned up over edge I5 and nished as above described. The resulting section of the brim is shown' in Fig. IV.

Should it be desired to have a second reinforced ring in the brim the block I3 is modied to the form shown in section in Fig. X. The resulting sections of the brim are shown in Figs. X11 or XIII. Figs. XII and XIII are alternative forms depending whether one or both layers of the material are caught in the recess 32 (Fig. X) by a second cord I6, The form Fig. XIII will re- .quire two supplementary cords I6 or three cords v in all as will be evident fromv the foregoing dei scription of the operation and Fig. XIII. A plurality of Similar rings may be formed if desired. In Fig. VIII is shown a portion of the weave of the materialmaking up the cylinder I2 and in Fig. IX is shown how the strands of the weave are curved by the manipulation of the material the lower half of the cylinder of material is folded up over the top half, the angle of the bias in the weave will be Areversed and consequently the sub sequent curvesvwill lie in the reverse direction. Thesuperimposition of. the material and consequently the semi-superimposition of these curves in the 'top and bottom layers of material I0 will give to the nished brim a beautiful moire eiect when a woven materialsuch as straw is used,

What I claim as new andfdesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A block for forming hat brims, comprising an approximately circular `form having a central opening, an outer rim conforming to the outside edge of the'required brim, an edge around said central opening conforming to the inside opening in the required brim, said form having a groove below the outer rim in depth equal to therequired pleat in the edge of the required hat brim, and an aperture through the block communicating with the groove and the central opening Ato permit passage of a loop of a cord disposed in said groove and brought tothe central opening.

2. A block for forming hat brims asset forth in claim 1, and provided with a spring for tensioning said cord.

WALTER WOLF 'WINSEN 

